var dc_UnitID = 14; var dc_PublisherID = 1411; var dc_AdLinkColor = 'blue'; var dc_open_new_win='yes'; var dc_adprod='ADL'; Vadodara, May 9: After the recent riots which claimed the lives of six people, leaders of different political parties have been visiting the city to make political capital out of the situation.

In the last few days, leaders of various political huesófrom central Congress leaders to those from the Samajwadi Party and Jamiatul Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) visited the riot-affected areas, and had themselves photographed with the victims and their families. While JUH leader Mahmood Madani returned after paying a flying visit, high-profile Mumbai-based Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Abu Asim Azmi spent half a day visiting the areas hit by the violence, meeting victims and their families. Azmi, accompanied by Asaduddin Owaisi, the lone Lok Sabha member of Andhra Pradesh-based political outfit Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimin, also doled out cash assistance to as many as 24 riot victims, including the kin of those killed.

The amount paid ranged from Rs 5,000 to those suffering minor injuries, Rs 10,000 to the seriously wounded and Rs 15,000 to the relatives of the dead. Azmi wanted the state government to give Rs 5 lakh compensation to the relatives of the dead and senior government officials to visit the riot-hit areas to restore peopleís confidence in the state machinery. Encouraged by the response he got in the riot-hit areas, Azmi told this reporter that he would strengthen his party base in Gujarat. Though he candidly admitted that he did not have much knowledge about the political demography of Gujarat, he said there was an urgent need to set up a third political force in the state with a view to providing a new political platform to those disenchanted with the Congress and the BJP. Azmi also demanded dismissal of the state government for its failure to tackle the situation. After visiting the injured at SSG Hospital, Owaisi said he had made arrangements to shift one of the seriously injured, Farooq Khan, to Owaisi Medical and Research Institute in Hyderabad. Khanís right leg has become severely infected and requires advanced treatment which is not available at SSG, pointed out Owaisi. He accused the local police of terrorising the injured persons and forcing them to say they were injured in private firing. According to Owaisi, the May riots were an Ďelection-winning strategy to appease the majority and terrorise the minorityí. He said he would take up this matter in the Lok Sabha. Lest they get left behind in the politics of riots, Lucknow-based All India Minority Front (AIMF) and Jammu and Kashmir-based Panthers Party leaders plan to visit the city on Tuesday. AIMF leader S M Arif and Panthers Party leader Sanjay Sachdeva would also address the media, for which elaborate arrangements have been made at Hotel Taj Residency.